Figma Went Corporate Mode, Alienated Its User Base — and Now AI Risks Turning It Into the Next Adobe

Over the past decade, FigmaFIG

became the design world’s tool of choice, wiping out competitors Sketch, InVision, and AdobeADBE

XD. Today, that same tool faces threats from all directions — AI-powered coding platforms that skip design altogether, open-source alternatives offering unlimited free storage, and a community that’s lost its loyalty. On Wall Street, investors haven’t been impressed, with the stock down nearly 70% since going public earlier this year.

Figma puts on a suit: Figma reported 41% revenue growth in its first public quarter but immediately guided for a sharp deceleration to just 33% growth in the current quarter. CEO Dylan Field warned that margins would compress as the firm pours resources into AI product development. The company’s initial troubles accelerated after regulators killed Adobe’s $20B acquisition offer in 2023, damaging the designer’s reputation as what critics called a “sell-out that couldn’t sell out.”

• However, the real trouble came from aggressive pricing changes that hit freelancers and developers hardest — alienating the designer community that once championed the platform.
• Open-source competitor Penpot exploded from zero to 600K users by Apr. 2024, riding a 5.6K% growth wave in 2022 alone after Figma’s merger announcement spooked designers.

AI Skips Design Altogether

While Figma wrestles with pricing backlash and UI complaints, a larger threat is emerging that could sideline design tools altogether. AI coding platforms like Replit and Lovable now turn text prompts directly into functional prototypes and production-ready code, allowing teams to skip traditional design steps entirely. Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham shared that a tech CEO fully replaced Figma with Replit, noting the AI tool generates apps so effectively that he’s seeing companies “go straight to prototype now.”

• Figma is responding by leaning into AI with tools like Figma Make, which transforms prompts into working prototypes, and by acquiring AI image and video startup Weavy for over $200M.
• The move reflects wider software pressure, as AI assistants cut build costs and customization time, weighing on shares of companies like HubSpot and Monday.com.

Erasing designers: Figma still dominates designer preference by a wide margin, but that lead means little if AI eliminates the role of designers themselves. The company’s trying to expand beyond designers by targeting product managers and engineers with tools like FigJam and Dev Mode. The real threat isn’t losing share to rivals — it’s losing the market entirely as AI changes how products get built, potentially leaving traditional design software behind, much like Photoshop’s slow fade from dominance.